You've never grown sunflowers before? Those were a staple when we used to have a garden, lol. They are so fun, and easy. We weren't amazing gardeners by any means but I can't remember any dying on us. They are so pretty and HUGE! Aww, and now I'm homesick for them.

OK, I admit - I do not have a green thumb. Does anyone have any tips on what to work on for beginners? (plants, equipment, sites, etc.) I will take all the advice I can get. It would be nice to grow our own veggies and save some money.

Hello Wifester! Welcome to NarniaWeb. I've heard a lot about you, and it's great to have you here!

You say you want to grow your own veggies. Any kind in particular that you'd like to grow?

Welcome, Wifester! Glad you've joined us.

Which veggies you can easily grow also depends somewhat on your climate. Cool weather crops like lettuce or peas may need to be grown early in the season, for example, if you live in a warm area. (Or, as is true here, the growing season is significantly shorter, which dictates to some extent what we grow, or may influence our choice of shorter-season hybrids).

In my fairly limited experience, those basic veggies (like tomatoes, peas, and green beans) are fairly easy to grow successfully, given reasonably cooperative weather.

Kind of amusing that this thread has started up again now that we finally have snow on the ground. (Yet those spring seed catalogs have started appearing here too).

Pole beans (I've only ever grown bush beans)

In my experience, pole beans produce more beans per seed than bush beans, but they're trickier too. Mine have always been really succeptible to drought so make sure that you keep the soil loose around them so that water can get down in there. Good luck with those!

We haven't gotten a burpee catalog yet, which really surprises me. I don't know how much I'll have in my garden this year. Last year I was the only one who did anything to it. One person cannot maintain a garden without it looking like a jungle (which it did). I only got six of the twelve cabbages I planted (some were given away but others died on the plant). The broccoli didn't do well at all because we had such a dry summer. I didn't get any peppers, few peas. My okra was eaten by deer. Cucumbers dried up. Just overall a bad year for everything except tomatoes.

Of course, when you have to plant, tend, weed, water, till, pick, and freeze EVERYTHING by yourself, you can only expect disaster.

So this year I'm going to assume that I'm not going to get any help again, and will probably only plant a few tomato plants, and maybe some broccoli and cucumbers.

OK, I admit - I do not have a green thumb. Does anyone have any tips on what to work on for beginners? (plants, equipment, sites, etc.) I will take all the advice I can get. It would be nice to grow our own veggies and save some money.

I know they aren't veggies, but I find cacti and succulents as great indoor plants for those such as myself who tend to forget to water them. All they need is a well lit room, and the occasional re-potting. If had mine survive well with a month with no water. And they do work in Northern climates (I live in the North East) so long as they're not exposed to really cold conditions (But most do well at room temperature). Also cacti are slow (really slow!) growers.

As for vegetables, I wish I could offer more assistance, but I fear it doesn't fall in my realm of knowledge. I do know however if you plan on making an outdoor garden, you should be aware of what soil type and climate you have. In my area, the soil is very poor and rocky, but corn survives well (except for last summer when we got completely drenched). Though I'm guessing you probably have heard this.

You say you want to grow your own veggies. Any kind in particular that you'd like to grow?

I have no idea about the veggies. Something hardy? I figured if I start looking now I might get motivated to do something this year. I will have to go to the library and pick up a book or two on climates in the south and what vegetables can be grown here. The previous owner of our home had corn in the back yard, I believe. I'd have to turn into a serious outdoor person to attempt something like that. Are there any veggies that are good to grow in containers?

Are there any veggies that are good to grow in containers?

Absolutely! A gallon sized flowerpot is about the right size for a pepper plant (which will provide you with dozens of wonderful fruits!) Your climate is probably pretty good for peppers, but if they're in pots, you don't have to worry about them as much.

A five or ten gallon pot would be great for tomatoes, with each plant giving you close to a bushel of tomatoes (depending on the variety and how well the plant does). Romas and Early Girls are good all around favourites that are quite hearty.

I've also hear of people growing cucumbers out of pots (but I'm not sure how that works). Of course, the best thing for you to do is to pick what you want to grow, and then go about learning how to plant them. Feel free to pop in or PM one of us with questions! We're happy to help.

OK, I admit - I do not have a green thumb. Does anyone have any tips on what to work on for beginners?

I've been going through the list of veggies in my head that can be planted in containers and can survive some neglect, cause that's basically what you're looking for right?

The one thing that sticks out at the top of the list for me is loose leaf lettuce. Once that stuff gets established, it's like a weed.

I'm also going to second DiGs's suggestion of a tomato plant, they can take a bit of abuse. And the Early Girl is one that I"m pretty familiar with, but I do have to say that this is a determinate tomato, and what that means is that it's going to grow up, produce a set of tomatoes, and then die. Your black thumb didn't do it. And a determinate tomato plant might be a good one to start with.

And a third suggestion with SL in mind are radishes and beets. Radishes are especially easy and they grow fast.

There are certainly others, so if there's any particular thing that you want to grow, feel free to ask about it here.

Now I have to ask you a question... are you asking about pots because you don't have the space to grow them in your yard? Cause pots cost a fair bit of money and so does the dirt you put in them. Plus it's a lot easier to kill a potted plant because you can over/under water them.

And a third suggestion with SL in mind are radishes and beets. Radishes are especially easy and they grow fast

I hadn't thought of those. Radishes and beets would be great because (like FK said) they grow REALLY fast, and the tubers aren't that huge, and thus would do decently in pots (radishes probably moreso than beets)

I'm also going to second DiGs's suggestion of a tomato plant, they can take a bit of abuse. And the Early Girl is one that I"m pretty familiar with, but I do have to say that this is a determinate tomato, and what that means is that it's going to grow up, produce a set of tomatoes, and then die. Your black thumb didn't do it. And a determinate tomato plant might be a good one to start with.

They may be determinate, but this has never been the case for us. We usually get tomatoes off of the plants all summer long. Given, there's one huge bumper crop of them, but even after the plant starts to die we're still getting those things .

And I can second the leaf lettuce suggestion, but I would advise keeping the pots up off the ground (like on a picnic table or something) because the rabbits will find it . Spinach does really good in our soil, and it's SO easy to grow. The problem is that it doesn't grow for very long (a total life cycle of about five weeks) but the upside to that is that it doesn't take long to grow more from seeds.

And I can second the leaf lettuce suggestion, but I would advise keeping the pots up off the ground (like on a picnic table or something) because the rabbits will find it .

Hmmm... Maybe I should convince my parents to plant some more lettuce then I've ran out of rabbit attracting ideas.

FK, I've been meaning to ask you a question. What kinds of tomatoes and peppers are you going to be growing this year?

Also, how did those poblano peppers turn out? (I can't remember if they were last year or the year before). I'm thinking about growing some this year.

FK, I've been meaning to ask you a question. What kinds of tomatoes and peppers are you going to be growing this year?

Um... *shuffles through her seeds, notes, and receipts*

Tomatoes
Cherokee Purple
Brandywine Pink
Sun Gold (cherry)
Honeybunch (cherry)
Juliet (which I am convinced is the world's greatest tomato)
Early Girl
San Marzano (my one new variety this year (so far)... it's a sauce tomato)

Peppers
Green Chile (Hot)
Poblano (slightly toasty)
Red Thai (HOT!!)
Jalapeno (Kinda Hot)
Habanero (REALLY HOT!!)
Flavorburst (bell)
Whitney (a new-to-me variety that's basically a huge bell pepper)
Yummy Mix (also a new-to-me variety, it's a stupid name, but they're smaller sized peppers that taste like red, yellow, and orange bell peppers)

I tried to scale back this year, and I think I was successful with the tomatoes but once again, I have a lot of peppers.

Also, how did those poblano peppers turn out?

I got one pepper last year, and it was quite tasty. Then we got record heat and drought the rest of the summer so the only peppers I recall getting were green chilies and puny little flavorburst bells. That was it. (And that was with stuff being watered every other day. It was just bad, bad gardening year last year.)

Juliet (which I am convinced is the world's greatest tomato)

What makes you say this?

San Marzano (my one new variety this year (so far)... it's a sauce tomato)

Sounds neat! Let me know how they come along!

I got one pepper last year, and it was quite tasty.

How did you cook one pepper ? Because poblano's aren't that huge if I remember correctly. At any rate, they may be worth trying this year.

Then we got record heat and drought the rest of the summer

I know. . . I was there, remember

The Juliet Hybrid tomato is a really good multi-purpose tomato. It's technically a cherry (measuring about 2" long and .75" across), so it's really prolific and can take the heat better than the large varieties. It's got incredible flavor so I eat them right off the vine or can them for my homemade spaghetti sauce. About the only thing it doesn't do really well is slice up for hamburgers and I've been known to do that anyways.

Re: The Poblano. We didn't cook it. We ate it raw. Tastes like a slightly spicy green pepper. But they're not a small pepper, in fact, they're on the large side.

My seeds from Totally Tomatoes came today . I'm hoping that my seeds from Burpee will arrive tomorrow. I'm sending my husband into work with the list of what tomato and pepper plants that everyone there wants so I can start planting next week.

We've got a new system in the greenhouse this winter. Last year we put heat lamps in there on a light sensitive timer so they'd turn off in the morning and on at night... worked pretty well. But this year, we've got our oil radiator heater out there and it has a built in thermometer. It's been keeping everything in there above 40F at night the couple nights we've tried it so.... We still need to insulate that greenhouse better though. It looses heat SOOO quickly when the sun goes down.